Weeks after the four judges from the Supreme Court held a press conference, Chief Justice of India, Dipak Mishra, introduced a new roster system in the Supreme Court and made it public. This is the first time that the SC has made the roster of judges public. It will come into effect from February 5.

Responsibilities

Justice Misra will be responsible for hearing Public Interest Litigation (PIL) cases under the new system. He will also listen to matters concerning service, election, arbitration, habeas corpus, criminal, contempt of court, statutory appointments, appointments of constitutional functionaries and commissions of enquiry, reports LiveLaw.

Justice MB Lokur will have the responsibility to handle petitions related to ecological imbalance and armed forces, and justice Kurian Joseph will be hearing matters concerning rent act, labour law, service law, family law, contempt law, land law, and religious and charitable endowments.

The Press Conference

On January 12, a press conference was held by four judges of Supreme Court, for the first time in the history of Indian Judiciary. The press meeting was held in the residence of Justice J Chelameswar and three other judges- Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph addressed the media along with Justice Chelameswar. They had told media that the appointment of judges in the case of death of Judge BH Loya prompted them to conduct the press conference.